Peanut Allergies

Overview

Peanut allergies are common food allergies that are found in people who are allergenic to peanuts or products containing peanuts. This allergy can be diagnosed even before a child is a year old because peanuts are found in a variety of products. Even foods that do not contain peanuts themselves, but the flavor alone can cause reactions in someone with peanut allergies. Unlike other food allergies children with peanut allergies rarely outgrow them.

Symptoms

Someone with peanut allergies will usually have a reaction within a few minutes after eating peanuts or food containing even traces of peanuts. Symptoms can range from mild stomach or skin irritations to anaphylactic shock.

Some of the most common symptoms are:

• Hives and Skin Rashes
• Tingling and Itching in the Mouth and Even the Throat
• Nausea, Vomiting and Diarrhea
• Stomach Pain
• Wheezing and Shortness of Breath
• Nasal Congestion or Runny Nose
• A Tight Feeling Across the Chest

A life-threatening reaction to peanut allergies can be anaphylaxis. This causes constriction of airways that leads to difficulty in breathing or it may even stop your breathing completely. Other symptoms are swelling of the throat, shock, drop in blood pressure, increase in pulse rate and the person becomes dizzy, lightheaded or unconscious quite often.

Causes/Risk Factors

The same process that causes all other food allergies causes peanut allergies. The body's immune system recognizes proteins in the peanuts as something that needs to be attacked and fought, as if they were dangerous substances.

The body releases immunoglobulin antibodies, which in turn releases histamine and other chemicals. Histamine and the other chemicals cause symptoms in a person when an allergic reaction occurs. This is why antihistamines are commonly given to neutralize the amount of histamine in the bloodstream. A family history of peanut allergies or other food allergies puts a person at higher risk of having peanut allergies. Children who do outgrow peanut allergies are also at a higher risk.

Tests/Diagnosis

Like most food allergies, a skin prick test or a blood test can be used to check for peanut allergies. In the skin prick test, the skin of the suspected person is pricked and exposed to small amounts of the proteins found in peanuts to see if any skin reactions occur. A blood test can diagnose the immune system's response to peanuts by measuring the amount of antibodies present in the bloodstream.

Treatment

There is no treatment for peanut allergies. The only way to prevent any reaction is to avoid peanuts and products that contain peanuts.

Over-the-counter and sometimes prescribed antihistamines can be used for mild to moderate symptoms. Those at risk for a severe reaction or those with anaphylaxis can go for EpiPen (commonly called as epinephrine) or adrenaline injections. Epinephrine is a drug that is used to treat anaphylaxis and it should be used immediately when a reaction occurs. Once an epinephrine has been given, it is necessary to immediately go to a hospital for observation, as an allergic reaction could re-occur hours later.